High Wind — Lower Columbia Basin, Washington

2021-11-15 · Lower Columbia Basin, Washington

Event narrative

The Hanford Meteorological monitoring network (HMMN) mesonet station HARMY 13.5 miles NW of West Richland, WA measured a peak wind gust of 74 mph at 1515 PST. The HMMN mesonet station HVERN measured a peak wind gust of 68 mph at 1415 PST. A couple other of the HMMN mesonet stations across the Hanford Reach area measured peak wind gusts over 70 mph between 1500 and 1700 PST, and several other stations measured peak gusts over 58 mph during the same time frame. A broadcast media partner in the Tri-Cities reported that strong winds through the area was responsible for a partial topple of a large building under construction around 1530 PST.

Wider weather episode

During the afternoon hours, a strong cold front passage across the Pendleton forecast area produced strong wind gusts across lower elevation areas, causing reports of damage in north central Oregon and in the Lower Columbia Basin.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 994581. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.